James Thorne Smith, Jr. (March 27, 1892 – June 20, 1934) was an American writer of humorous supernatural

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two ''Topper'' novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, much drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s. Smith was born in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, the son of a Navy commodore, and attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. Following hungry years in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of ''Topper'' in 1926. He was an early resident of Free Acres, a social

experimental community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

developed by Bolton Hall according to the economic principles of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

, in

Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. A commuter town in northern-central New Jersey, the township is nestled within the Raritan Valley region in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States ...

. He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Works

* ''Biltmore Oswald: The Diary of a Hapless Recruit'' (1918). A series of comic stories written for the Naval Reserve journal ''The Broadside'' while Smith was in the Navy. * ''Out O' Luck: Biltmore Oswald Very Much at Sea'' (1919). * ''Haunts and Bypaths'' (1919). A book of poetry. * ''Topper'' (1926, copyright renewed 1953—also known as ''The Jovial Ghosts''). This and its sequel, ''Topper Takes a Trip'' (1932, set in the French Riviera), are probably Smith's most famous work, about a respectable banker called Cosmo Topper, married to his depressingly staid wife Mary, and his misadventures with a couple of

ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

, Marion and George Kerby, who introduce him to other ghosts. He is romantically attracted to Marion, who at one point tries to kill him so that they can always be together. Unusually for such a book, Mary is treated sympathetically—she does not like what she has become and tries to change. : ''Topper'' was made into a 1937 film starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

as George Kerby,

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...

as Marion Kerby, and

Roland Young Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

as Cosmo Topper. Two filmed sequels followed: ''

Topper Takes a Trip ''Topper Takes a Trip'' is a 1938Some sources, such as Turner Classic Movies, say 1939. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film was released in New York City on 29 December 1938, and in the United States in January 1939. The exact year ...

'', in 1939, and ''

Topper Returns ''Topper Returns'' is a 1941 fantasy comedy thriller directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Jonathan Latimer. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succeeds ...

'', in 1941. The latter film was not based on a book. Young reprised the role in the 1945 NBC radio summer replacement series ''

The Adventures of Topper ''The Adventures of Topper'' is a radio situation comedy in the United States. It was broadcast on NBC June 7 – September 13, 1945, as a summer replacement for Dinah Shore's program. Format The 30-minute program was based on characters created ...

''. The books were adapted into an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series, '' Topper'', beginning in 1953, with

Leo G. Carroll Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than forty years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including ''Spellbound'', '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''North by Northwest'' and in thre ...

as Cosmo Topper, and

Robert Sterling Robert Sterling (born William Sterling Hart; November 13, 1917 – May 30, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Topper'' (1953–1955). In 1960, Sterling was honored with a star on the Hollywoo ...

and

Anne Jeffreys Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was noted as the female lead in the 1950s TV series '' Topper''. Career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichae ...

as the ghosts. Seventy-eight episodes were made. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

episode and a few of the early episodes were written by

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

. * ''Dream's End'' (1927, copyright renewed 1955). A serious novel that was not a success. * ''The Stray Lamb'' (1929). Mild-mannered investment banker,

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

, and

dipsomania Dipsomania is a historical term describing a medical condition involving an uncontrollable craving for alcohol or drugs. In the 19th century, the term dipsomania was used to refer to a variety of alcohol-related problems, most of which are known ...

c T. Lawrence Lamb gains perspective on the human condition during a series of mysterious transformations into various animal forms. Lamb, his daughter Hebe, her boyfriend Melville Long, and Hebe's friend Sandra Rush (a twentyish lingerie model who becomes Lamb's love interest) pursue many adventures, most of which fall well outside the perimeter of law and order. Lamb has, like many Thorne Smith heroes, a shrewish (and in this case adulterous) wife who at one point tries to murder him (at the time he is a goldfish). As in many Thorne Smith novels, a courtroom scene involving the protagonists and an exasperated judge provides a climax to the characteristically tipsy action. This novel is included with ''Turnabout'' and ''Rain in the Doorway'' in ''The Thorne Smith 3-Decker'' (Sun Dial Press, 1933). * ''Did She Fall?'' (1930). A mystery novel admired by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

. * ''The Night Life of the Gods'' (1931). Quirky inventor Hunter Hawk strikes

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

when he invents a device enabling him to turn living

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...

into

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and to reverse the process at will. After a chaotic field test he meets stunning 900-year-old

Megaera Megaera ( ; grc, Μέγαιρα, Mégaira, the jealous one) is one of the Erinyes, Eumenides or "Furies" in Greek mythology. '' Bibliotheca Classica'' states "According to the most received opinions, they were three in number, Tisiphone, "Me ...

, who teaches him to turn stone into flesh. They and some friends set their sights on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to bring the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin litera ...

of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

to life:

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

shows himself an expert pickpocket, while

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

causes chaos in the fish market. * ''Turnabout'' (1931) pits two modern married people into a battle of the sexes. Noticing the bickering and jealousy of a young man and wife, an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

idol causes them to switch bodies. Tim Willows works in an advertising agency, and several of the scenes draw on author Thorne Smith's experience. After his wife, Sally, impregnates her husband, things take a decided turn for the worse as they separately try to deal with the object of the former wife's affections—a square-jawed philanderer by the name of Carl Bently. The scene in which Tim, trapped in his wife's body, exacts an icy revenge on the unfortunate interloper is one of the unforgettable moments of Thorne Smith's peculiar humor. Both a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

(1940) and a short-lived 1979 television sitcom starring

Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress and author, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on ''Switch'' (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series ''Cagney & Lacey'' (198 ...

and

John Schuck Conrad John Schuck Jr. (born February 4, 1940) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama ''McMillan & Wife''. He also played Herman Munster in the late-1980s ...

(canceled after six episodes) were based on ''Turnabout'', as to some extent was the last broadcast episode of ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'', "

Turnabout Intruder "Turnabout Intruder" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Arthur H. Singer (based on a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Herb Wallerstein ...

". This novel is included with ''The Stray Lamb'' and ''Rain in the Doorway'' in ''The Thorne Smith 3-Decker''. * ''Lazy Bear Lane'' (1931). A children's book.''Fantasy and Science Fiction:'' Curiosities
at www.sfsite.com * ''The Bishop's Jaegers'' (1932). The depressed, indifferent heir of a vast coffee import fortune, Peter Van Dyke finds his life and high society engagement turned upside down when his secretary, Josephine Duval, determines to “rescue” him by ruining him morally. After an amusing scandal in a coat closet, he is cast adrift in a fog with a motley crew that includes a bishop of the Episcopal Church and a former nude model named Aspirin Liz. The enterprising party lands unceremoniously on the shores of a

naturist resort A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...

, and the liberation of the coffee importer is set in motion. Smith, in one of his few comic novels devoid of any element of the supernatural, assumes the reader would know that "Jaegers" refers to a

union suit A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. History Created in Utica, New York, United States, it originated as women's wear during the 19th-century United ...

. * ''Rain in the Doorway'' (1933). A

husband, Hector Owen, inadvertently becomes a partner in a big-city department store. The bulk of the action involves the inebriated adventures of Owen, his three partners (Mr. Horace Larkin, a man called Dinner, and Major Barney Britt-Britt), and a salesgirl from the pornographic books department, Miss Honor "Satin" Knightly. Of the three novels included in ''The Thorne Smith 3-Decker'' (see ''The Stray Lamb'' and ''Turnabout'' above) this is the most openly erotic, with many direct suggestions of sexual encounters, accompanied with cartoons of nude women cavorting with the protagonists, drawn by artist Herbert Roese. The Thorne Smith courtroom scene provides a climax, but the novel's biggest surprise isn't sprung until the final pages. * ''Skin and Bones'' (1933). A photographer's freak accident in the darkroom produces a chemical concoction causing him and his dog to randomly switch back and forth between normal and X-ray (skeleton) versions of themselves. Drinking and cavorting ensues as he finds people able to see beyond his appearance and appreciate him for who he is, while inadvertently terrifying those who cannot. Unusually, his wife Lorna is an attractive personality. * ''The Glorious Pool'' (1934). Perhaps the best example of Thorne Smith's acutely sharp social humor played out against a backdrop of the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

(

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

). Two unrepentant reprobates are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the seduction which made the stylish Rex Pebble into an adulterer and his companion, Spray Summers, into his hard-boiled mistress. While their exasperating and alcoholic Japanese houseboy, Nakashima, plays jujitsu with the English language, the two slip into a swimming pool, the waters of which have been changed into a fountain of youth. Abandoning their clothes and modesty with their advanced years, the newfound youthfulness of their bodies puts into motion an evening of hijinks that only a seasoned and well-practiced couple of sinners could imagine. * ''The Passionate Witch'' (1941, published posthumously and completed by Norman H. Matson). Produced in 1942 as the film ''

I Married a Witch ''I Married a Witch'' is a 1942 American fantasy romantic comedy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as her foil. The film also features Robert Benchl ...

'', this novel was one of the inspirations, along with ''

Bell, Book and Candle ''Bell, Book and Candle'' is a 1958 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine from a screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1950 Broadway play of the same title by John Van Druten. It stars Kim Novak as a witch who c ...

'', for the long-running TV series ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

''. A sequel to the novel, ''Bats in the Belfry'' (1942), is entirely by Matson, though sometimes attributed to Smith. ''Skin and Bones'', ''Turnabout'', ''The Night Life of the Gods'', ''The Passionate Witch'', ''The Stray Lamb'', ''The Bishop's Jaegers'', ''The Glorious Pool'', and ''Rain in the Doorway'' were all published by

Armed Services Editions Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to ...

References

External links

''The Official Thorne Smith Website''
by Michael D. Walker

*

Libraries

*
Joseph Blotner collection on Thorne Smith, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania
*

Online editions

LibraryThing author profile
* * * *
Thorne Smith, The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thorne 1892 births 1934 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers American fantasy writers American humorists American male novelists American male short story writers Dartmouth College alumni Novelists from Maryland Novelists from New Jersey People from Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Writers from Annapolis, Maryland

Works

References

Further reading

Dissertations

Biographies

Bibliographies and checklists

External links

Libraries

Online editions